Burnett Named Athlete of the Week

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University women’s swimmer Rachael Burnett has been named this week’s Varsity Sports Report Athlete of the Week for her performance at last week’s Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships.

Burnett won three individual events for the second-consecutive season, broke three school records and broke the Big 12 record in the 500 free. Burnett’s individual wins came in the 200 free (1:45.22), 500 free (4:38.40) and 1650 free (16:04.26). Burnett finished her conference championships career with nine individual victories.

Burnett was named the 2013 Big 12 Most Outstanding Women’s Swimmer and garnered the award for the third-consecutive season after earning the same honor in the Big East from 2011-12.

“What an exciting end to our week,” coach Vic Riggs said. “Overall, 13 school records, five Big 12 Champions, one Big 12 meet record and one women’s swimmer of the meet is excellent.”

Women’s Basketball-This Week in Women’s BasketballThe West Virginia women’s basketball team enters its final regular-season contest at 8:30 p.m., on Tuesday as it faces the Texas Longhorns in Austin … WVU holds a 2-0 all-time series advantage with Texas.

-Last Week in Women’s BasketballThe Mountaineers went 1-1 in last week in a two-game home stand, defeating Kansas State, 66-57, and falling to No. 1/1 Baylor, 80-49, on Saturday … Saturday’s attendance of 13,447 set an all-time WVU women’s basketball record for the largest crowd at the Coliseum.

-Notes & QuotesFollowing Tuesday’s game, the Mountaineers head to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship held at the American Airlines Center, March 8-11 … the Mountaineers are now 17-11 overall and 9-8 in the Big 12 Conference and are looking for a bid to the NCAA Tournament … junior Christal Caldwell led the Mountaineers in scoring in each game last week and continues to lead WVU for the season with 13.0 points per game … senior Ayana Dunning was recognized at Saturday’s game, as it was her final game as a Mountaineer in the WVU Coliseum … Dunning is currently the second-leading scorer for WVU, with 10.3 points per game and is the leading rebounder with 6.3 rebounds per game.

Track and Field -This Week in Track and FieldFreshman Kelly Williams is the lone Mountaineer that has the chance to compete this weekend at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Mar. 8-9 in Fayetteville, Ark. … Williams’ fate in the mile will be decided at 6 p.m., tonight when the top 16 in each individual event is released.

-Last Week in Track and FieldWilliams ran at the Columbia Last Chance meet in New York, N.Y., on Saturday and finished second … her time of 4:36.77 was almost two seconds faster than her previous personal best and currently ranks No. 17 in the country.

-Notes & QuotesWilliams’ time in the mile is currently ranked No. 3 in WVU program history … for only running in the event three times in her career, Williams now owns the No. 3 and No.4 rankings in WVU program history.

“Kelly smashed her best time. She was the first collegiate across the line and this performance moves her up on the national list and lands her in the run to make the NCAA Indoor Championships. We feel very fortunate that she regained enough strength off of her sickness through the Big 12 Championships to be able to come here.” -coach Sean Cleary

Wrestling-This Week in WrestlingWVU (2-10, 0-3 Big 12) heads to Stillwater, Okla., for the Big 12 Duals on March 8 and the Big 12 Championships on March 9.

-Last Week in WrestlingThe Mountaineers were idle.

-Notes & QuotesNathan Pennesi (141) leads the Mountaineers with 21 victories this season … Pennesi, who suffered a broken left third metacarpal nearly three weeks ago, is set for a return at the NCAA Championships should he qualify … Shane Young (125), who is looking to become the 15th grappler in program history to qualify for the NCAA Championships, is second on the team with 12 victories … in its last non-conference dual meet of the season, WVU defeated Clarion, 18-15 … the win was secured in the dual meet’s 10th and final match by heavyweight Phil Mandzik … the win – a 5-1 decision – was Mandzik’s ninth of the season.

-Last Week in Swimming & DivingBoth teams competed in the Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships last weekend at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas … the women placed second with 576 points, while the men placed third with 788 points.

-Notes & QuotesThe Mountaineers totaled 13 school records, five Big 12 Champions, one Big 12 meet record and one women’s swimmer of the meet … senior Rachael Burnett picked up victories in the 200 free (1:45.22), 500 free (4:38.40) and 1650 free (16:04.26), all in school record times with the 500 free also registering as a Big 12 record … senior Mandie Nugent won the 200 fly at the conference meet for the fourth consecutive season with a time of 1:55.82 … the men’s 400 medley relay team of Andrew Marsh, Christopher Brill, Julien Vialette and Nathan Cobbe placed first in 3:17.99.

Rifle-This Week in RifleThe No. 1-ranked West Virginia rifle team heads to Ohio State to shoot at the 2013 NCAA Rifle Championships on March 8-9 at Converse Hall and French Field House, in Columbus, Ohio.

-Last Week in RifleThe Mountaineers were idle.

-Notes & QuotesAt last year’s NCAA Championships, senior Petra Zublasing won the air rifle title with a 696.2-combined score … the team finished second in air rifle with a 2350 mark on day two of competition … the Mountaineers shot 2297 in the smallbore relay on day one … their aggregate score of 4647 was good enough for sixth place … the team won their fourth straight Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship title on Feb. 23-24 at Mississippi’s Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center, in Oxford, Miss. … the team shot 2370 in air rifle and 2335 in smallbore for a two-day total of 4705 for the win in both disciplines and overall … Zublasing, 2013 GARC Shooter and Senior Shooter of the Year, won the smallbore discipline title on day one with 595 (199 prone, 199 standing, 197 kneeling) in the open relay and 101.4 in the final for a 696.4 score.

Tennis-This Week in Women’s TennisWVU (2-7) takes on California (Pa.) on Friday, March 8, at 3 p.m., at the Ridgeview Racquet Club, then welcomes Rutgers on Saturday, March 9, at 1 p.m., at the Ridgeview Racquet Club.

-Last Week in Women’s TennisThe Mountaineers were upended by Virginia Tech, 5-2, on Saturday, then rebounded for a 5-2 victory over Marquette on Sunday.

-Notes & QuotesHailey Barrett and Ikttesh Chahal finished the weekend with unblemished singles records, as they were victorious in each dual meet … during Sunday’s match, the winning doubles combos for WVU were Barrett/Chahal and Vivian Tsui/Irinka Toidze … the doubles win was the first of the season for Toidze and Tsui … it was the third doubles win for Barrett and Chahal … in singles play, Audrey Wooland and Toidze recorded their first wins of the season … Emily Mathis leads the team in combined victories (10) and is tied in doubles wins (6) and singles wins (4) … Barrett is tied for the lead in singles wins (4), while Mathis’ doubles partner, Wooland, has six doubles wins.

Gymnastics-This Week in GymnasticsThe No. 21-ranked Mountaineers close out their regular-season road schedule at George Washington on Sunday, March 10, at 1 p.m., at the Charles E. Smith Center, in Washington, D.C.

-Last Week in GymnasticsThe then-No. 16 Mountaineers (10-7, 1-1 Big 12) scored 196.375 and finished second in its home quad-meet on March 3 … No. 13 Denver scored 196.8 and finished first, while George Washington placed third (195.3) and Temple finished fourth (191.625) … WVU finished first on beam with a season-high 49.225 score … the team also won vault (49.05) and placed second on bars (48.825) and floor (49.275) … junior Hope Sloanhoffer finished first overall with a 39.225 mark, while senior Kaylyn Millick scored 38.875 and placed fourth … senior Alaska Richardson and freshman Jaida Lawrence tied for first on vault with 9.875s … junior Erica Smith paced the team on bars with a fifth place, 9.8 showing … WVU used five scores of 9.8 or better on beam to power to its season high, including a second place, 9.875 showing from Sloanhoffer … Smith, Millick and sophomore Lia Salzano all scored 9.85 and finished third … Millick was again stellar on floor and tied for the win with a 9.925, while Richardson finished third with a 9.9.

-Notes & QuotesWVU’s score was its 13th-best in program history and its second-best of the season … The Mountaineers have scored 196.0 or better in all four of their home meets, a feat only achieved in 2004 … the team’s beam score is its best since earning a school-record 49.55 at Pitt with James Madison on March 9, 2004 … the mark is just short of the team’s best home beam score of 49.3, last scored against NC State and Ohio State on Jan. 18, 2004 … Sloanhoffer’s all-around score is her second-best mark of the season … Lawrence and Richardson have combined for seven vault wins this season … senior Chelsea Goldschrafe earned a career-best 9.775 in her first bars appearance of the season … sophomore Dayah Haley also scored a season-best 9.775 on bars … Haley made her season debut on beam and tallied a career-best 9.725 … the routine was only the second of her career; the first came in her collegiate debut in 2012 … Goldschrafe also matched her career high of 9.85 on floor … WVU continues to lead the all-time series against DU, 4-3 .. the Mountaineers improved to 44-1 against GW and 41-1 against Temple.

Baseball-This Week in BaseballThe WVU baseball team will play five games this week, beginning with the home opener on Tuesday at 3 p.m., against Eastern Kentucky at Hawley Field … WVU then travels back south to Port Charlotte, Fla., for the Snowbird Baseball Tournament … the Mountaineers will play Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Maine and Iowa.

-Last Week in BaseballThe Mountaineers played in the Caravelle Resort Baseball at the Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. … WVU defeated UMBC (4-0), while falling to Indiana (8-5) and Florida Atlantic (6-5).

-Notes & QuotesLeft fielder Jacob Rice once again led WVU at the plate with a .500 batting average (7-for-14) with two runs, one double and four RBIs … designated hitter Matt Frazer got out of a slump this weekend and finished 4-for-9 with two runs, two doubles and two RBIs … left-handed pitcher John Means earned his second win of the season against UMBC, allowing no runs on three hits in7.0 innings with five strikeouts.

“He was unbelievable. Anytime you throw a shutout you know you’re not going to lose the game. He went out and mixed two pitches, he didn’t have his breaking ball today. His fastball and changeup were really good and early in the season you’re trying to find those guys that can pitch on the weekends in conference play. He’s earning some more time every start.” – Coach Randy Mazey on John Means.